Methods of issuing a credit for a certificate for a domain name

ABSTRACT

The invention provides methods for efficiently registering a domain name and issuing a certificate without a Subscriber submitting a separate request for the certificate. A notice may be provided to the Subscriber after requesting to register the domain name that a credit for a certificate may be issued for the domain name. In other embodiments a credit may be given to the Subscriber for the certificate without receiving a separate request for the credit or certificate. The credit may be saved in a Subscriber&#39;s account to enable the Subscriber to use a certificate at a later time. In yet other embodiments, a single vetting process may be used to facilitate one or more of: creating a Subscriber&#39;s account; registering a domain name; and issuing a certificate.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/376,457, filed on Mar. 15, 2006, which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/330,772,filed on Jan. 11, 2006. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/330,772 is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/877,613,filed on Jun. 25, 2004 and a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/877,609, filed on Jun. 25, 2004. All priorapplications are incorporated herein in their entirety by thisreference.

The subject matter of all listed patent applications is commonly ownedand assigned to Go Daddy Holding Company, LLC.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to methods for efficiently providingcertificates, such as a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificate, afterregistering a domain name.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The Internet is a global network of interconnected computers that allowsindividuals and organizations around the world to communicate and toshare information with one another. The World Wide Web (WWW), also knownas the Web, is a collection of information resources contained indocuments located on individual computers around the world and is one ofthe fastest growing parts of the Internet. Prevalent on the Web aremultimedia Web sites offering and selling goods and services toindividuals and organizations, i.e. Customers. Web sites may consist ofa single Web page, but typically consist of multiple interconnected andrelated Web pages.

Each computer or server on the Internet is assigned a unique identifierknown as an Internet Protocol (IP) address. A computer or server mayhost one or more Web sites. IP addresses are difficult to remember so adomain name service (DNS) associates Web sites' IP addresses with theircorresponding domain names. This permits a Customer to enter an easilyremembered domain name into a browser, and the browser, via the DNS,locates the unique IP address and thus the location of the Web site.Another advantage of the DNS is that the Web site may move its physicallocation on the Internet, i.e. receive a new IP address, but by makingthe appropriate changes in the DNS, the Web site may still be locatedusing the original domain name.

In certain situations, the registrant of a domain name may not want tohave their personal contact information made publicly available toprevent spam, identity theft, harassment, etc. from occurring. A proxydomain name registration permits a registrant to register a domain nameanonymously by requesting the proxy to use the proxy's contactinformation so that the contact information published in the WHOISdatabase (a publicly accessible database of domain names and theircorresponding registrants) is that of the proxy entity.

Internet businesses, whether a large corporation or an individual, arerapidly creating Web sites to take advantage of the growing number ofCustomers using the Internet and Customers' increasing willingness topurchase goods and services over the Web. Web sites created by Internetbusinesses may be reached by millions of Internet savvy Customers,thereby allowing Internet businesses to offer their products andservices to a very large pool of potential Customers.

Some Internet businesses, typically larger more sophisticated ones, mayprovide their own hardware, software and connections to the Internet.However, many Internet businesses either do not have the resourcesavailable or do not want to create and maintain the infrastructurenecessary to host their own Web sites. To assist these Internetbusinesses in operating their Web sites, many companies are offeringhosting services for Web sites. These hosting companies typicallyprovide the hardware, software and electronic communication meansnecessary to connect multiple Internet businesses' Web sites to theInternet. A single hosting company may literally host thousands of Websites.

An unfortunate consequence of the Internet's growth is the accompanyinggrowth of fraud on the Internet. Fraud not only results in actuallosses, but it hinders the growth of the Internet. Many potentialCustomers may avoid conducting business over the Internet due to theirfear of being deceived or of compromising personal data.

There are many fraudulent schemes, but two types of fraud tend to beparticularly worrisome for Customers. The first type of fraud involvesthe operator of a Web site hiding or obscuring their identity from theirCustomers. Basically, the operator of a Web site takes advantage of theanonymity provided by the Internet thereby making it difficult forCustomers to locate and punish a fraudulent Web site operator. Forexample, a Web site may purport to be from a known and trusted businesswhen the Web site is in fact operated by an unscrupulous individual. Theunscrupulous individual may try to receive credit card numbers or passoff goods and services under another's trademark as part of theirfraudulent scheme.

The unscrupulous individual may have inserted false information in theWHOIS database when they registered their domain name to hide theiridentity. This is possible because Registrars do not verify the identityof a domain name registrant at the time domain names are registered. Theunscrupulous individual may also try to use a proxy domain nameregistration. While most proxy domain name registrations are used forlegitimate purposes, unscrupulous individuals may try to use thisapproach to make it more difficult for Customers to learn theiridentity, because the proxy's contact information, and not theunscrupulous individual's contact information, is made publiclyavailable in the WHOIS database. As a consequence, legitimate businessesthat wish to use a proxy domain name registration have a particularlyurgent need for assuring their Customers that their identities are knownand have been verified.

The second type of fraud involves individuals intercepting confidentialinformation, such as credit card numbers, transmitted over the Internetbetween a Customer and a legitimate Web site. This type of fraud is muchless common and may easily be prevented by transmitting confidentialinformation only in a sufficiently strong encrypted format.

A common method for Internet businesses to protect their Customers fromthese two types of fraud is to obtain a secure certificate, such as aSecure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate, for their Web sites. A securecertificate on a Web site lets Customers know that the owner of the Website has been verified by a trusted third party (Certificate Authorityor CA) and that confidential communications with the Web site areencrypted. SSL is a protocol for transmitting private documents via theInternet. SSL protects confidential information by using a private keyto encrypt data transferred over an SSL connection. Common conventionalbrowsers, such as NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR and INTERNET EXPLORER, support theSSL protocol, and many Web sites use the protocol to obtain confidentialuser information from their Customers. By convention, Uniform ResourceLocators (URLs) that require an SSL connection start with “https:”instead of “http:”.

When connecting to a Web site using the SSL protocol, the Customer'sbrowser receives information regarding the CA that issued the Web site'sSSL certificate. The browser may decide whether or not to trust the Website's SSL certificate based on which CA issued the Web site's SSLcertificate. If the CA is on the browser's list of trusted CAs, thebrowser will know that the owner of the Web site has met the trustedCA's process for receiving an SSL certificate.

A conventional process for a CA to issue an SSL certificate to arequesting Subscriber for the Subscriber's Web site is illustrated inFIGS. 1 and 2. The process starts with a Subscriber 150, typically theowner or an agent for the Web site 180, requesting hosting services froma Hosting Provider 160, typically in cooperation with an InternetService Provider (ISP) (Step 200). The Hosting Provider 160 willtypically provide the hardware and software necessary to place theSubscriber's Web Site 180 on the Internet. The Subscriber 150 may decideto request SSL services for its Web Site 180 from the Hosting Provider160 to provide assurances to its Customers that the Subscriber 150 iswho the Subscriber 150 says it is and to enable encrypted communicationswith the Subscriber's Customers (Step 201).

The Hosting Provider 160 generates a public and a private key for theSubscriber's Web Site 180 (Step 202). The keys, as is known in the art,are integral to encrypted communications capabilities between theCustomer and Subscriber's Web site 180. The Hosting Provider 160generates a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) which includes informationregarding the public key and a distinguished name, i.e., a unique nameconforming to a standardized format (Step 203). The Hosting Provider 160transmits the CSR to the Subscriber 150 (Step 204).

Once the Subscriber 150 has the CSR, the Subscriber 150 may request anSSL certificate from a Certificate Authority 170 (CA) (Step 205) andstart the process by transmitting the CSR to the CA 170 (Step 206). TheCA 170 may verify the identity of the Subscriber 150 by, for examples,asking for copies of identification documents or by asking forinformation not publicly available regarding the Subscriber 150 (Step207). If the identity of the Subscriber 150 was verified, the CA 170will create and sign an electronic certificate (Step 208). The CA 170will transmit the electronic certificate to the Subscriber 150 (Step209) and the Subscriber 150 will transmit the certificate to the HostingProvider (Step 210). The Hosting Provider will install and configure thecertificate on the Subscriber's Web Site 180 thereby enabling theSubscriber's Web Site 180 to communicate using the SSL protocol (Step211). The Subscriber's Web Site 180 is now SSL complaint and may beaccessed by Customers desiring the extra security provided by the SSLprotocol.

A third party, such as a Customer desiring to purchase goods andservices from the Subscriber 150, may use a browser to access theSubscriber's SSL-compliant Web Site 180. Several steps are automaticallyperformed by the browser without any interaction by the Customer and, infact, the Customer may not even know the browser is performing thesesteps. The browser will request from the Subscriber's Web Site 180 thecertificate 150, which includes the identity of the CA that issued thecertificate. Browsers that support the SSL protocol have a list oftrusted CAs and the browser will compare the CA that issued thecertificate to the Subscriber 150 with the browser's list of trustedCAs. If no match is found, the browser may try to see if it can get amatch to one of its trusted CAs by “chaining” the CA that issued thecertificate to the Subscriber's Web Site.

The chaining process involves the browser looking at a first CA thatissued the certificate to a second CA that in turn issued thecertificate to the Subscriber's Web Site. By moving up the chain ofissuing CAs the browser will attempt to eventually link up to the rootCA. This process is helpful since the root CA is more likely to be onthe browser's list of trusted CAs. If a match between a CA in the chainand a CA on the browser's list of trusted CAs is eventually found, theprocess for setting up an SSL connection may continue. If no match isfound, i.e. the browser is unable to verify the owner of theSubscriber's Web Site 180 per the SSL protocol, the browser willtypically display a security error to the user and ask if they wouldlike to disconnect from the Web Site or ignore the error and continue.

The browser will need to get the public key from the Hosting Provider160 for the Subscriber's Web Site 180. Hosting Providers freely give thepublic key to anybody that asks for it. The browser may also requestfrom the CA 170 its Certificate Revocation List (CRL) to see if theSubscriber's 150 certificate has been revoked. Obviously, if theSubscriber 150 has had its certificate revoked by its CA 170, thebrowser may be programmed to refuse to establish an SSL link with theSubscriber's Web Site 180.

The SSL process allows the Subscriber's Web Site 180 and the Customer toauthenticate each other through an established “hand-shaking” procedureand allows both to establish an encrypted connection. Various levels ofencryption are known and may be used as appropriate once a connectionhas been made. For example, non-confidential information may not even beencrypted or may be encrypted with a simple cipher thereby conservingcomputer resources, while highly-confidential information, such ascredit card numbers, may be encrypted with very sophisticated encryptionalgorithms to increase the security in the transmittal of the data.

The integrity of the system relies on the fact that the Hosting Provider160 that hosts the Subscriber's Web Site 180 has maintained control overthe private key at all times since the Hosting Provider 160 originallycreated both keys. This allows the Hosting Provider 160 to use knownkey-pair encryption technologies with a great deal of confidence in thesecurity of the encryption process since the Hosting Provider 160 isable to insure that the Hosting Provider 160 is the only party to everhave access to the private key.

A problem with the prior art method of obtaining an SSL certificate fora Web site is that it involves a great deal of action by the Subscriber.Specifically, after the Subscriber requests hosting and SSL servicesfrom a Hosting Provider, the Subscriber must receive the CSR from theHosting Provider and transmit the CSR to the CA and the Subscriber mustreceive the certificate from the CA and transmit the certificate to theHosting Provider. If the Subscriber fails in coordinating thetransmission of either the CSR or the certificate between the HostingProvider and the CA, the Subscriber's efforts in making its Web siteSSL-enabled will fail. Compounding the problem is the fact that fewSubscribers are familiar with the process for obtaining an SSLcertificate for their Web sites and would prefer to focus on the issueswith their core business.

New systems and processes are therefore needed to prevent fraud on theInternet that overcome the limitations of current methods. Specifically,systems and processes are needed to simplify the process for aSubscriber to make its Web site SSL-enabled. SSL-enabled Web sites helpfight fraud by having a trusted third party verify the identity of a Website operator and by encrypting communications between the Subscriber'sWeb Site and its Customers. Using an SSL-enabled Web site isparticularly important for Subscribers that have used a proxy service inregistering their domain name since a proxy service makes it moredifficult for Customers to verify the identity of the Web site operatoron their own.

SUMMARY

Additional advantages and aspects of the present invention will becomeapparent in the following detailed description of the invention and theclaims.

The invention provides systems and methods for a Subscriber to simplyand easily improve the security of the communications between its Website and its Customers. In a preferred embodiment, the Subscriber's Website will become SSL enabled as the means for improving the Web site'ssecurity although other protocols (presently known or developed in thefuture), particularly those that use public and private key encryptionalgorithms, may also be used. The Subscriber will need to acquire,typically by registering with a Registrar, a domain name that, via theDNS, may be used to access the Subscriber's Web Site.

In a preferred embodiment, the Subscriber registers a domain name forits Web site using a proxy service whereby the proxy's contactinformation is stored in the publicly available WHOIS database. Thisembodiment includes a Hosting Provider for hosting the Subscriber's Website and a Certificate Authority (CA) for verifying the identity of theSubscriber. Advantageously, the Hosting Provider and CA may communicatedirectly with each other, as opposed to prior art methods that used theSubscriber as an intermediary during their exchange of information.

In an exemplary process, the Subscriber registers a domain name and may,if the Subscriber desires to keep their contact informationconfidential, register the domain name using a proxy domain nameregistration. The Subscriber may request hosting services for theSubscriber's Web Site from a Hosting Provider. At the time theSubscriber requests hosting services, or at any time thereafter, theSubscriber may request SSL services for its Web site from either the CAor from the Hosting Provider.

If the request for SSL services was made to the CA, the CA may request aCertificate Signing Request (CSR) from the Hosting Provider. If therequest for SSL services was made to the Hosting Provider, the HostingProvider may automatically create the CSR. To maximize the efficienciesof the invention, the Hosting Provider and the CA preferably communicatedirectly with each other during the rest of the process without havingto rely on the Subscriber as an intermediary for exchanging information.

The Hosting Provider may generate a key pair, i.e. a public key and aprivate key, according to Public-Key Infrastructure (PKI) techniquesthat are well known in the art. The Hosting Provider may transmit thecreated CSR to the CA. The CA may verify the identity of the Subscriberby, for examples, asking for identification documents or askingquestions and verifying the answers using on-line databases. Informationthat may have been provided to the Hosting Provider (such as billingaddress, etc.) may also be used to verify the identity of theSubscriber. The CA plays the role of a trusted third party that verifiesthe identity of the Subscriber.

It should be noted that the step of verifying the identity of theSubscriber may be skipped in certain embodiments. While a certificateissued without verifying the identity of the Subscriber would notprovide any security regarding the identity of the Subscriber, thecertificate may still be used to encrypt all of the communications forthe Subscriber's Web site.

The CA may electronically create and sign a certificate using the CSR.The CA may directly transmit the certificate to the Hosting Provider andthe Hosting Provider may then install and configure the certificate onthe Subscriber's Web site. While not the preferred method, the CA mayalso transmit (for example by email) the certificate to the Subscriberand allow the Subscriber to transmit the certificate to the HostingProvider, which then installs the certificate.

The Subscriber's Web site is now SSL-enabled and Customers may purchasegoods and enjoy secure communications with the Subscriber's Web Siteusing the SSL protocol. It should be understood that the HostingProvider and the CA may be separate entities where each Hosting Providermay be able to communicate with a plurality of different CAs and each CAmay be able to communicate with a plurality of different HostingProvider's, typically over the Internet. This allows the Subscriber theflexibility to match any Hosting Provider with any CA that theSubscriber wants to use as long as the Hosting Provider and the CAcooperate in accordance with the present invention.

In another embodiment, the Hosting Provider and the CA may also befunctions in a Facilitator's Web Server. The functions may includehardware and software necessary to perform the particular tasks of aHosting Provider and a CA respectively. This approach greatly simplifiesand speeds up the communications between the Hosting Provider and the CAsince they may both reside, as non-limiting examples, on a localcomputer network or an Intranet, and thus may be highly integrated witheach other. Whether the Hosting Provider and the CA are separate orfully integrated with each other, the Hosting Provider and the CApreferably communicate directly with each other without the need for theSubscriber to act as an intermediary in transferring information.

In yet another embodiment, a Domain Name Registering Function, a HostingProvider Function and a CA Function are preferably integrated into aFacilitator's Computer Network (FCN). The FCN is preferably operated bya single business entity or by a group of closely related and highlycoordinated business entities. While this integration is not necessaryfor many of the disclosed and claimed embodiments, this preferredarrangement permits these three functions to share resources, streamlinecommunications and cooperate at a very high level.

In yet another embodiment, a method is provided for covering a pluralityof domain names, where at least two domain names have different toplevel domains (TLDs) and/or second-level domains, with a singlecertificate.

In yet another embodiment, the Subscriber is subjected to a vettingprocess as a prerequisite to allowing the Subscriber to create anaccount. Once the Subscriber has access to the account, the Subscribermay request a certificate, possibly covering multiple domain names, fromthe account without further vetting. This may be justified since oncethe Subscriber has passed a first vetting process, the Subscriber wouldlikely pass all subsequent vetting processes.

In yet another embodiment, one or more domain names may be subjected toa vetting process prior to issuing a certificate. The history and priorusage of the domain name(s) may be monitored and examined to determineif a certificate should be issued for the domain names. This may also bedone in combination with subjecting the Subscriber to a vetting process.

In yet other embodiments, improved methods are provided for streamliningthe process of registering a domain name and receiving a certificate fora Subscriber. In some embodiments, the domain name may be registered forthe Subscriber and the certificate may be issued covering the domainname without receiving a separate request from the Subscriber for thecertificate. As examples, the Subscriber may make a single request for adomain name and a certificate or the Subscriber may make a singlerequest for only the domain name. This process eliminates a separaterequest from the Subscriber for the certificate.

In yet other embodiments, a credit for a certificate may be given to theSubscriber, also without receiving a separate request from theSubscriber for the credit or the certificate. The certificate or creditmay be saved in a Subscriber's account to enable the Subscriber to usethe certificate when needed. In yet other embodiments, a single vettingprocess may be used to facilitate one or more of: creating theSubscriber's account; registering the domain name; and issuing thecertificate. In yet other embodiments, information from the Subscriberfor creating a Subscriber's account or for registering a domain name maybe used in issuing the certificate for the Subscriber.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the communication paths used inprior art methods to provide a Subscriber's Web Site with SSLcapabilities.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a prior art method for providing aSubscriber's Web Site with SSL capabilities.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the communication paths used inan exemplary embodiment of the invention to provide a Subscriber's WebSite with secure communications.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method for providing aSubscriber's Web Site with SSL capabilities.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the communication paths used inanother embodiment of the invention to provide a Subscriber's Web Sitewith secure communications.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary arrangement offunctional elements for certain embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method of issuing acertificate for a plurality of domain names.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating another exemplary method of issuinga certificate for a plurality of domain names.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating another exemplary method of issuinga certificate for a plurality of domain names.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method of issuing andinstalling a certificate for a Subscriber.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method of issuing andinstalling a certificate by first giving a credit to a Subscriber forthe certificate.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method of issuing andinstalling a certificate by notifying a Subscriber of the availabilityof the certificate.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method of issuing andinstalling a certificate after vetting a Subscriber.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method of issuing andinstalling a certificate by vetting a Subscriber and then giving acredit to the Subscriber for a certificate.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method of issuing andinstalling a certificate from a Subscriber's account after vetting theSubscriber.

FIG. 16 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method of issuing andinstalling a certificate from a Subscriber's account after vetting theSubscriber by first giving a credit to a Subscriber for the certificate.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will now be discussed in detail with regard to theattached drawing figures which were briefly described above. In thefollowing description, numerous specific details are set forthillustrating Applicants' best mode for practicing the invention and forenabling one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention.It will be obvious, however, to one skilled in the art that the presentinvention may be practiced without many of these specific details. Inother instances, well-known machines and process steps have not beendescribed in particular detail in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuringthe present invention. Unless otherwise indicated, like parts andprocesses are referred to with like reference numerals.

As the Internet grows, fraud grows with it. Fraud not only results inactual losses, but it deters further growth of the Internet. Apercentage of potential Internet Customers won't shop on-line out offear of being a victim of fraud. The potential Customers fear a lack ofsecurity on the Internet will compromise their personal data, like emailaddresses and credit card numbers. Web sites that are able to removepotential Customers' fear of fraud will be at a competitive advantagecompared to Web sites that are not able to effectively handle potentialCustomers' fear. The present invention is designed to help remove thefear Customers have in disclosing confidential information over theInternet by providing real security measures to their Internetcommunications. An advantage of the present invention over the prior artis that a Subscriber may more easily add security features to its Website since the Hosting Provider and the CA are able to directlycommunicate with each other. The invention is not limited to anyparticular communication medium, but the communication preferably occursover the Internet.

The general features used in practicing the invention and theirinterrelationships will be discussed with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.The invention provides a method for a Subscriber 150 to improve thesecurity of the communications between the Subscriber's Web Site 180 andits Customers. Customers will typically be connected to the Subscriber'sWeb Site 180 from their personal computers via the Internet. In apreferred embodiment, the Subscriber's Web Site 180 will becomeSSL-enabled as the means for improving the Subscriber's Web Site'ssecurity, although other protocols (presently known or developed in thefuture), particularly those that use public and private key encryptionalgorithms, may also be used with the present invention.

The Subscriber 150 may acquire a domain name by registering a desireddomain name with a Registrar. For example, the Subscriber 150 mayregister a domain name using Go Daddy Software, Inc. by visiting its Website at www.godaddy.com. As part of the domain name registration processor management, the Subscriber 150 may associate the domain name with aWeb site 180 via the DNS. This allows Customers to easily access theSubscriber's Web site 180 via the domain name using conventionalbrowsers. The processes of registering domain names, creating Web sites,pointing domain names to particular Web sites via the DNS and accessingWeb sites with browsers using domain names are all well known by thoseskilled in the art.

As part of the domain name registration process, the Subscriber 150 mayregister the domain name using a proxy service offered by the Registrar(Step 400). A proxy service allows the Subscriber 150 to register andhave legal rights to the domain name, while allowing the proxy serviceto insert its contact information in the publicly accessible WHOISdatabase. Proxy domain name registrations may be obtained, for example,from Domains By Proxy, Inc. at www.domainsbyproxy.com. Furtherinformation regarding proxy domain name registrations may be obtained inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/624,883 titled “METHOD AND SYSTEMFOR DOMAIN NAME REGISTRATION AND EMAIL BY PROXY” filed on Jul. 21, 2003which is hereby incorporated by reference.

While a proxy service protects the Subscriber's personal contactinformation from people who may want to use it for inappropriatepurposes, such as identity theft or spamming, it also blocks Customersfrom personally verifying the identity of the Subscriber 150 through theuse of the publicly available WHOIS information. Thus, Subscribers 150that use proxy domain name registrations have a heightened need forreassuring their Customers that they are who they say they are since theCustomer may be passing confidential information, such as personalcontact information or credit card numbers, to the Subscriber 150. Forthis reason, it is particularly valuable for a Web site with a proxydomain name registration to be SSL-enabled, as this lets theSubscriber's Customers know that a trusted third party has verified theidentity of the Subscriber 150.

The Subscriber 150 may request and receive hosting services from aHosting Provider 360 for the Subscriber's Web site 150 (Step 401). Suchservices may be obtained by contacting the Hosting Provider 360, forexample, by logging onto a Hosting Provider's Web Site. One such HostingProvider is Go Daddy Group, Inc. with a Web site located atwww.godaddy.com.

The Subscriber 150 may request SSL services for the Subscriber's WebSite 180 either from a CA 370 or from its Hosting Provider 360 (Step402). If the request for SSL services was made to the CA 370, the CA 370may request a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) from the Subscriber'sHosting Provider 360 (Step 403). To maximize the efficiencies of theinvention, the Hosting Provider 360 and the CA 370 preferablycommunicate directly with each other during the rest of the processwithout having to rely on the Subscriber 150 as an intermediary.

The Hosting Provider 360 may generate a key pair, i.e. a public key anda private key, according to Public-Key Infrastructure (PKI) techniquesknown in the art (Step 404). The Hosting Provider 360 uses the privatekey and the Subscriber's Customers use the public key to permitencrypted communications between the Subscriber's Web Site 180 and itsCustomers.

The Hosting Provider 360 may also generate a Certificate Signing Request(CSR) which may include the public key and a unique name, commonly knownas a distinguished name in the art, for the Subscriber's Web Site 180(Step 405). For maximum security and integrity of the system, theHosting Provider 360 should never reveal the private key and maintainthe private key in strict confidence.

In contrast with prior art methods, the Hosting Provider 360 and the CA370 may communicate directly with each other during the remainingportions of the process without having to rely on the Subscriber 150 asan intermediary in communicating information. The Hosting Provider 360may transmit the CSR to the CA 370 (Step 406).

The CA 370 may verify the identity of the Subscriber 150, for example,by asking the Subscriber 150 for identification documents or by askingthe Subscriber 150 questions and verifying the answers using on-linedatabases (Step 407). The CA 370 may contact the Subscriber 150directly, possible either via e-mail or by having the Subscriber 150link to the CA's Web site. Another alternative is for the HostingProvider 360 to pass questions or document requests from the CA 370 tothe Subscriber 150 and then facilitate the transfer of the answers ordocuments from the Subscriber 150 to the CA 370.

Asking for identification documents via mail or even fax will slow theprocess down, but may provide a strong document based identificationprocess. Asking for answers available in on-line databases produceidentifications much faster, but typically at the expense of being lessreliable. The identification process may be done as thoroughly aspossible so that Customers may rely and trust that the Subscriber 150has been properly identified by the CA 370 and the Subscriber 150 iswhom the Subscriber 150 claims to be. In other embodiments, theverification process may be brief or skipped altogether. Removing theverification process removes any assurances that the Subscriber 150 iswho the Subscriber 150 says he/she is, but would still allow theSubscriber's Web site 180 to communicate using an encryption protocol.The advantage of a fast verification process is that the Subscriber'sWeb Site 180 will be on-line and available for business sooner and at alower cost.

The CA 370 plays the role of an impartial trusted third party authoritythat verifies the identity of the Subscriber 150. Once the Subscriber's150 identity has been verified, the CA 370 may electronically create andsign a certificate (Step 408). Obviously, if the CA 370 is unable,possibly after several attempts using different methodologies, to verifythe identity of the Subscriber 150, the process may be terminated andthe Subscriber's Web Site 180 will not receive the benefits of havingencrypted communications capability. The CA 370 may also create anddistribute a Certification Revocation List to keep track of certificatesthat are no longer valid. The CA 370 may transmit this list to anybodythat asks for it.

After the Subscriber's 150 identity has been verified by the CA 370, theCA 370 may directly transmit the certificate to the Hosting Provider 360(Step 409) and then the Hosting Provider 360 may install and configurethe certificate on the Subscriber's Web site 180 (Step 410). TheSubscriber's Web site 180 is now SSL-enabled and Customers may purchasegoods and services from the Subscriber's Web site 180 and benefit fromsecure communications with the Subscriber's Web Site 180 using the SSLprotocol.

In a preferred embodiment, the CA 370 is a root Certificate Authoritythat is recognized by the most commonly used browsers. In anotherembodiment, the CA 370 may be linked, possible via several intermediateCertificate Authorities, to a Certificate Authority that is widelyrecognized by the most commonly used browsers. Thus, the CA 370 may be asingle root SSL, i.e. the CA is directly recognized by most browsers, ora chained root SSL, i.e. the CA inherits its certification from anotherCA. The CA 370 may be several levels from a root CA. If the CA 370 isnot recognized or is not linked to a Certificate Authority that isrecognized by a browser, the browser preferably warns the Customer andeither terminates the communications or allows the Customer the optionto terminate or continue using the SSL protocol. Thus, it is importantfor the CA 370 to be widely recognized by commonly used browsers or tobe “chained” or linked to a Certificate Authority that is widelyrecognized by commonly used browsers.

In another embodiment of the invention, the Hosting Provider 360 and theCA 370 operate from different servers or computer networks thatpreferably can communicate directly with each other, for example overthe Internet, as described in this invention. In practice, there may bemany Hosting Providers and CAs available for Subscribers to use. Thisallows the Subscriber 150 the flexibility to match any Hosting Provider360 with any CA 370 that the Subscriber 150 wants to use as long as theHosting Provider 360 and the CA 370 are set-up to communicate with eachother and perform the processes in accordance with the presentinvention.

In yet another embodiment of the invention, as generally illustrated inFIG. 5, a Hosting Provider Function 560 and a CA Function 570 may resideon a single Facilitator's Web Server 550. In this approach the HostingProvider Function 560 and the CA Function 570 perform the taskspreviously disclosed for the Hosting Provider 360 and the CA 370respectively. This embodiment greatly simplifies the communicationprocess between the Hosting Provider Function 560 and the CA Function570 since both Functions may be performed on a single server or localcomputer network and thus may be highly integrated with each other. Theymay share software and hardware resources and even be integrated intothe same software and hardware system.

FIG. 6 illustrates a preferred arrangement of functions for theexemplary methods disclosed in the flowcharts of FIG. 7, FIG. 8, andFIG. 9. Specifically, these methods are preferably performed by aFacilitator's Computer Network 600 (FCN) that includes a Domain NameRegistering Function 610, a Hosting Provider Function 560, and aCertificate Authority (CA) Function 570. While certain synergies may beachieved by integrating these functions as illustrated in FIG. 6 (suchas the faster exchange of information and the ability to share hardwareand software), one or more of these functions 610, 560, and 570 may beseparate and performed on a different computer network and/or operatedby a different entity. Breaking these functions 610, 560 and 570 apartallows the Subscriber 150 to pick and choose the particular provider theSubscriber wants to use for each of these functions.

The FCN 600 may be accessed by a Subscriber 150 via an Internetconnection 620. If the FCN 600 does not contain all the functions 610,560, and 570 illustrated in FIG. 6, the Subscriber 150 and the FCN 600may access the missing function(s) through services offered by thirdparties, typically via the Internet. Even if the FCN 600 includes allthe shown functions, the Subscriber 150 may still access particularfunction(s) offered by third parties.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary method for issuing a secure certificateaccording to another embodiment of the invention. A Subscriber 150 mayconnect to the FCN 600 via a communication pathway, such as the Internet620. The FCN 600 will typically have a Web site that the Subscriber 150may access, specifically designed for this purpose. The Subscriber 150may make one or more requests to register one or more domain names (Step700). Assuming the domain names are available, the FCN's 600 Domain NameRegistering Function 610 may register the domain names selected by theSubscriber 150 (Step 701). At the time of requesting registration forthe domain names or at any time thereafter, the Subscriber 150 mayrequest a certificate that covers a plurality of the domain namesregistered by the Subscriber, even if two or more of the domain nameshave different top level domains (TLDs) and/or different second-leveldomains (Step 702). The two or more domain names may be listed on thecertificate as common or alternative domain names.

The certificate covering two or more domain names may be created, signedand issued, preferably automatically, for the Subscriber 150 (Step 703).While the certificate may be created the traditional way, i.e. requiringthe Subscriber 150 to get a CSR from a hosting provider and thentransmitting the CSR to a CA, in a preferred embodiment the HostingProvider Function 560 and the CA Function 570 automatically (from theSubscriber's perspective) take the necessary steps to create, sign andissue the certificate. A copy of the newly created certificate may betransmitted, such as by email, to the Subscriber 150 and another copymay be saved on the FCN 600.

Once the Subscriber 150 has the certificate covering two or more domainnames, the Subscriber 150 may request that the certificate be installedon the Subscriber's web site 180 (Step 704). The Hosting ProviderFunction 560 is preferably integrated with the FCN 600 so that thecertificate may be easily communicated to the Hosting Provider Function560 automatically for the Subscriber 150. If the Hosting ProviderFunction 560 is not part of the FCN 600, the certificate may betransmitted to another Hosting Provider Function 560 either by theSubscriber 150 or by the FCN 600. Once the Hosting Provider Function 560or Third Party Hosting Provider has the certificate, the certificate maybe installed for the Subscriber's Web site (Step 705).

FIG. 8 illustrates another exemplary embodiment of the invention. Inthis embodiment, a Subscriber 150 may request to create an account witha Domain Name Registering Function 610 (Step 800). The Domain NameRegistering Function 610 will typically be a Registrar, but may also bea Reseller for a Registrar or any entity or function capable ofregistering domain names. The Subscriber 150 may be subjected to avetting process. (Step 801) The vetting process may be used to simplyverify the identity of the Subscriber 150 and/or to determine areputation or trustworthiness of the Subscriber 150 (Step 802). If acertificate is to be issued that provides minimal or no level oftrustworthiness associated with the certificate, the vetting process maybe skipped.

If the Subscriber 150 does not pass the vetting process, i.e. theSubscriber's identity was not able to be verified and/or the reputationor trustworthiness of the Subscriber 150 was not sufficient based uponsome predetermined criteria, an account is not created for theSubscriber 150 (Step 803). However, if the Subscriber 150 passed thevetting process, an account may be created for the Subscriber 150 (Step804). This approach gives the created account a certain level oftrustworthiness so that all actions later taken by the Subscriber 150logged into the account may be trusted without revetting the Subscriber150 for subsequent actions.

Specifically, the Subscriber 150 may register a plurality of domainnames from within the account (Step 805) and request a certificatecovering two or more of the domain names (Step 806). Since theSubscriber 150 was vetted to create the account, the Subscriber 150 ispreferably not vetted again. The certificate may be created, signed andissued, preferably automatically as previously described or by any othermethod known or developed in the future for creating certificates (Step807). The Subscriber 150 may request the certificate be installed on theSubscriber's Web site (Step 808) and the certificate may be installed(Step 809).

FIG. 9 illustrates another embodiment of the invention. In thisembodiment the Subscriber 150 may request (Step 900) and receive acreated account (Step 901) for registering domain names and accessingother domain name related services. The Subscriber 150 may register aplurality of domain names all at once or over a period of time (Step902). The Subscriber 150 may request a certificate for two or moredomain names (Step 903). Since the Subscriber 150 was not necessarilyvetted for this embodiment (although for added security the Subscriber150 may also have been vetted), the domain names may be subjected to avetting process (Step 904). The domain names may be examined to see ifthey were used in the past for spamming, phishing or for otherfraudulent or abusive Internet uses (Step 905). The domain names mayalso be examined for positive uses such as a long time use with areputable web site. Further details regarding methods for determiningdomain name reputation are disclosed in the U.S. patent application Ser.No. 11/306,612; filed Jan. 4, 2006 and titled “DOMAIN NAME RELATEDREPUTATION AND SECURE CERTIFICATES” and that patent application ishereby incorporated in its entirety by this reference.

Domain names that do not pass the vetting process may be denied acertificate (Step 906). As an option for obtaining a higher level ofsecurity, a certificate may even be denied for domain names in the sameaccount as a domain name that does not pass the vetting process. Acertificate may be created, signed and issued for domain names that passthe vetting process (Step 907). As in other embodiments, this step ispreferably automatically performed by the FCN 600 for the Subscriber150. Once issued, a copy of the certificate may be email to theSubscriber 150 and a copy may be retained by the FCN 600. As in previousembodiments, the Subscriber 150 may request the certificate be installedon the Subscriber's web site (Step 908) and the certificate may be soinstalled (Step 909).

As an overall strategy, the level of trustworthiness for the issuedcertificate may be fine-tuned in the various disclosed embodiments bycombining, adjusting, adding or eliminating the vetting processes of theSubscriber 150 and the domain names. A certificate providing minimal tono trustworthiness may be issued by eliminating all vetting processesand a certificate providing a high level of trustworthiness may beissued by incorporating aggressive vetting processes of the Subscriberand domain names.

It should be noted that all references, whether in the specification orclaims, to the Subscriber requesting services from the Hosting Provider,CA, Domain Name Registering Function, FCN or Facilitator's Web Serverinclude the embodiments, unless specifically stated otherwise, of theSubscriber requesting these services directly, through an agent orthrough a Reseller to the service provider. Resellers are particularlyadvantageous in that they provide another marketing channel withoutincreasing the complexity of the overall process for the Subscriber.Specifically, a Reseller may collect fees and information from theSubscriber and then permit, assist or proceed with the above describedprocesses for the benefit of the Subscriber.

FIGS. 10-16 illustrate embodiments of the invention for efficientlyregistering a domain name for a Subscriber 150, obtaining a certificatecovering the domain name, and installing the certificate on aSubscriber's Web Site 180. The steps in FIGS. 10-16 may be performed bya Registrar (or Reseller), CA 370, and a Hosting Provider 360coordinating their functions together. Also, two of these three may becombined (such as shown by the Facilitator's Web Server 550 illustratedin FIG. 5) into a single entity to practice the invention. However, in apreferred embodiment, all three are combined (such as the FCN 600illustrated in FIG. 6) into a single, and well coordinated, entity topractice the invention. The integration of two or more functions allowsfor more efficient communications and use of computer hardware andsoftware. While using the FCN 600 is the preferred method, and will beused in describing the embodiments of FIGS. 10-16, it should be notedthat one or two of the functions may be broken out and operated asseparate entities.

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary method of practicing the invention. ASubscriber 150 may connect to a FCN's 600 Web Site and request toregister an available domain name (Step 1000). Information may bedisplayed on the FCN's 600 Web Site informing the Subscriber 150 that ifthe Subscriber 150 registers the domain name, the Subscriber 150 mayreceive the certificate or in certain embodiments, a credit for acertificate. The request to register the domain name may be silent inregards to issuing the certificate or the request may include, eitherexplicitly or implicitly, a request for the certificate. For example,the Subscriber 150 may select an option on the FCN's 600 Web Site thatexplicitly states that the credit or the certificate will be given orissued for the domain name as a result of the Subscriber registering thedomain name.

The FCN's Web Site may have one or more fields specifically designed forreceiving domain name registration information. As part of the domainname registration process, the Subscriber 150 may have to enter certaininformation into the FCN's Web Site, such as contact information. TheFCN 600 may also assist the Subscriber 150 by providing additionaldomain names to choose from and by verifying whether the domain namesare in fact available for registration.

After receiving the request from the Subscriber 150 to register thedomain name, the FCN 600 may register the domain name with anappropriate Registry (Step 1001). In certain embodiments, the domainname may be registered via a proxy registration, i.e., using contactinformation from the FCN 600 to be stored in the public WHOIS databaseso that the Subscriber's personal information may be confidentiallystored with the FCN 600. Once the domain name has been registered, aconfirmation email may be sent to the Subscriber 150 describing theresults of the registration process.

The FCN 600 may issue a certificate, for example, by using methodsgenerally known in the art, by using compatible methods developed in thefuture or by using methods previously discussed. In preferredembodiments, the certificate is created and signed by a CA function 570within the FCN 600. To issue the certificate, additional information mayhave to be obtained from the Subscriber 150. However, the informationfrom creating a Subscriber's account or the information from registeringthe domain name may also be used to issue the certification, therebyeliminating the step of having the Subscriber 150 reenter theSubscriber's information.

The certificate is preferably issued without receiving a separaterequest from the Subscriber 150 for the certificate (Step 1002). Therequest from the Subscriber 150 to register the domain name may eitherexplicitly or implicitly mention receiving the certificate, but therequest does not have to mention the certificate. Eliminating the needfor a separate or additional request from the Subscriber 150 for acertificate simplifies the certificate process and helps to insure thatthe Subscriber's Web Site 180 will eventually enjoy the benefits ofhaving an installed certificate.

If the Subscriber 150 does not want to immediately install thecertificate, it may be saved in a Subscriber's account (Step 1003). Thispermits the Subscriber 150 to wait for a more convenient time to installthe certificate on the Subscriber's Web Site 180. There are many reasonsthe Subscriber 150 may wish to delay the installation of thecertificate, such as when the Subscriber's Web Site 180 has not yet beencreated or hosted. If the Subscriber 150 wants to immediately installthe certificate, Step 1003 may be skipped.

The Subscriber 150 may request that the issued certificate be installedand configured on the Subscriber's Web Site 180 (Step 1004). Step 1004may be completed contemporaneously with the registration of the domainname or, if the certificate was saved, at some future date. It is alsopossible to skip Step 1004 in certain embodiments. For example, the FCN600 may be able to determine, by searching the Subscriber's account orby reviewing the domain name, the Subscriber's Web Site 180 and installthe certificate on the Subscriber's Web Site 180 without receivingspecific input from the Subscriber 150 to install the certificate. Inother embodiments, the FCN 600 may wait until a hosting account is setup and then issue the certificate.

The certificate may be installed on the Subscriber's Web Site 180 (Step1005). In preferred embodiments, the issuing and installing of thecertificate on a Web Site 180 are done within the FCN 600 as previouslyexplained, thereby greatly simplifying the process for the Subscriber150.

FIG. 11 illustrates another embodiment of the invention to efficientlyissue and install a certificate on the Subscriber's Web Site 180. Inthis embodiment, instead of always issuing (and possibly saving) acertificate for later use as shown in connection with FIG. 10, a creditfor the certificate is placed in the Subscriber's account withoutreceiving a separate and additional request from the Subscriber 150 forthe credit or certificate (Step 1100). Saving the credit instead of thecertificate reduces the work load for the FCN 600, since the certificatedoes not need to be issued until the credit is actually used. SinceSubscribers 150 often do not want certificates for all their domainnames, fewer resources are needed to implement this embodiment. TheSubscriber 150 may then redeem the credit at the Subscriber'sconvenience in order to issue the certificate (Step 1101). Thecertificate may be issued based on an explicit request from theSubscriber 150, after the Subscriber 150 requests the certificate beinstalled on the Subscriber's Web Site 180, or after the Subscriber 150has set up a hosting account.

FIG. 12 illustrates another embodiment of the invention to efficientlyissue and install a certificate on the Subscriber's Web Site 180. Thisembodiment is also similar to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 10,except that the Subscriber 150 is notified after submitting a request toregister a domain name that a certificate may also be obtained. Thenotice may be provided to the Subscriber 150 without receiving anadditional request from the Subscriber for the certificate (Step 1200).If the Subscriber 150 acknowledges the desire for the certificate (Step1201), the process may be continued to issue and eventually install thecertificate on the Subscriber's Web Site 180. The advantage of thisembodiment is that while streamlining the process for obtaining acertificate, neither a credit nor a certificate must be saved unless theSubscriber 150 affirmatively acknowledges wanting the certificate. Thisembodiment would also save on resources for those domain names where thecertificate is not desired.

FIG. 13 illustrates another embodiment of the invention to efficientlyissue and install a certificate on the Subscriber's Web Site 180. Thisembodiment is also similar to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 10,except that the Subscriber 150 is vetted after requesting to register adomain name (Step 1300). The vetting process may be used to verify theinformation used to register the domain name and to verify theinformation used to obtain a certificate. Using a single vetting processsimplifies the process of registering domain names and obtainingcertificates. The process of registering the domain name and obtaining acertificate is only continued if the Subscriber 150 passes the vettingprocess (Step 1301). If the vetting process is not passed, the processmay be terminated (Step 1302).

FIG. 14 illustrates another embodiment of the invention to efficientlyissue and install a certificate on a Subscriber's Web Site 180. Thisembodiment is similar to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 13, exceptthat a credit is given for a certificate after the Subscriber 150 passesthe vetting process without receiving an additional request from theSubscriber 150 for the credit or the certificate (Step 1100). Thisembodiment combines the advantages of using a single vetting process toobtain the domain name and the certificate with the advantages of onlysaving the credit until the certificate is actually needed.

FIG. 15 illustrates another embodiment of the invention to efficientlyissue and install a certificate on a Subscriber's Web Site 180. Thisembodiment is similar to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 13, exceptthat the Subscriber 150 requests to create an account (Step 1500). Inthis embodiment, a single vetting process may be used to verify theinformation used to create an account, register a domain name and obtaina certificate. After passing the vetting process, a Subscriber's accountmay be created (Step 1501). This embodiment then allows the Subscriber150 to log onto the Subscriber's account and register any number ofadditional domain names and obtain any number of additional certificateswithout be subjected to further vetting processes.

FIG. 16 illustrates another embodiment of the invention to efficientlyissue and install a certificate on a Subscriber's Web Site 180. Thisembodiment is similar to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 15, except acredit for a certificate is saved in a Subscriber's account withoutreceiving a separate request from the Subscriber for the credit or thecertificate. This embodiment combines the advantages illustrated in FIG.15 (single vetting process) with the advantages previously discussedregarding using credits (fewer certificates needed to be issued andsaved).

In view of the foregoing, it will be understood by those skilled in theart that the systems and processes of the present invention canfacilitate a secure communication protocol for a Subscriber's Web Site.The above-described embodiments have been provided by way of example,and the present invention is not limited to these examples. For example,while the SSL protocol was disclosed in some detail, other encryptionprotocols (presently known or developed in the future) may also be usedwith the present invention. It should be noted that the presentinvention can easily be extended to a plurality of Subscribers.

Multiple variations and modification to the disclosed embodiments willoccur, to the extent not mutually exclusive, to those skilled in the artupon consideration of the foregoing description. For example, not allsteps are required to be performed in the order disclosed and in factsome steps may be skipped altogether in certain embodiments of theinvention. Such variations and modifications, however, fall well withinthe scope of the present invention as set forth in the following claims.

1. A method comprising the steps of: A) generating, by one or moreserver computers communicatively coupled to a network, an account for auser; B) registering to said user, by said one or more server computers,one or more domain names; and C) storing, by said one or more servercomputers, a credit for an electronic security certificate covering saidone or more domain names, said credit being stored in said accountwithout a request from said user for: (1) said credit; or (2) saidelectronic security certificate.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein saidcredit is stored in said account responsive to said one or more servercomputers receiving from said user a request to register said one ormore domain names.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising thesteps of: D) receiving, by said one or more server computers, a requestto install said electronic security certificate on a website, saidwebsite resolving from said one or more domain names; and E) withoutfurther communication from said user, said one or more server computers:i) generating a certificate signing request; ii) transmitting saidcertificate signing request to a certificate authority; iii) receivingsaid electronic security certificate from said certificate authority,said electronic security certificate having been signed and issued bysaid certificate authority; and iv) installing, on said website, saidelectronic security certificate.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein,prior to said registering step B), said one or more server computersreceive from said user a plurality of domain name registrationinformation, wherein said plurality of domain name registrationinformation is used to verify the identity of said user to issue saidelectronic security certificate.
 5. A method comprising the steps of: A)registering to a user, by one or more server computers communicativelycoupled to a network, one or more domain names; B) transmitting, by saidone or more server computers, to a client computer communicativelycoupled to said network, an electronic communication comprising anotification that said user may obtain an electronic securitycertificate covering said one or more domain names; C) receiving, bysaid one or more server computers, a request to obtain said electronicsecurity certificate; and D) without further communication from saiduser, said one or more server computers: i) generating a certificatesigning request; ii) transmitting said certificate signing request to acertificate authority; and iii) receiving said electronic securitycertificate from said certificate authority, said electronic securitycertificate having been signed and issued by said certificate authority.6. The method of claim 5, wherein said electronic security certificateis issued after a website is created, said website resolving from saidone or more domain names.
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein, prior tosaid registering step A), said one or more server computers receive fromsaid user a request to register said one or more domain names.
 8. Themethod of claim 7, wherein said request to register said one or moredomain names includes said request to obtain said electronic securitycertificate.
 9. The method of claim 5, wherein step D) further comprisesthe steps of: iv) generating an account for said user; and v) savingsaid electronic security certificate in said account.
 10. The method ofclaim 9, wherein step D) further comprises the steps of: vi) receiving arequest to install said electronic security certificate on a website,said website resolving from said one or more domain names; and vii)installing, on said website, said electronic security certificate. 11.The method of claim 5, wherein, prior to said registering step A), saidone or more server computers receive from said user a plurality ofdomain name registration information, and wherein said plurality ofdomain name registration information is used to verify the identity ofsaid user to issue said electronic security certificate.
 12. A methodcomprising the steps of: A) verifying, by one or more server computerscommunicatively coupled to a network, an identity and a reputation of auser; and B) responsive to a verification by said one or more servercomputers of said identity and said reputation of said user: i)generating, by said one or more server computers, an account for saiduser; ii) registering to said user, by said one or more servercomputers, one or more domain names; and iii) storing, by said one ormore server computers, a credit for an electronic security certificatecovering said one or more domain names, said credit being stored in saidaccount without a request from said user for said credit or saidelectronic security certificate.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein,prior to said registering step B) ii), said one or more server computersreceive from said user a request to register said one or more domainnames.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein said credit is stored in saidaccount responsive to said request to register said one or more domainnames.
 15. The method of claim 12, wherein step B) further comprises thesteps of: iv) receiving, by said one or more server computers, a requestto install said electronic security certificate on a website, saidwebsite resolving from said one or more domain names; and v) withoutfurther communication from said user, said one or more server computers:a) generating a certificate signing request; b) transmitting saidcertificate signing request to a certificate authority; c) receivingsaid electronic security certificate from said certificate authority,said electronic security certificate having been signed and issued bysaid certificate authority; and d) installing, on said website, saidelectronic security certificate.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein,prior to said registering step B) ii), said one or more server computersreceive from said user a plurality of domain name registrationinformation, and wherein said plurality of domain name registrationinformation is used to verify the identity of said user to issue saidelectronic security certificate.